I know you have been keeping up with the news that our friends in Honduras were hit by not only one hurricane in the last few weeks but two. Rought estimates say 75,000 families have lost their homes. Many more times that have lost all of their worldly possessions. Still, others have had their fields and water supplies flooded with salt water. Times are tough in a country already complicated by outbreaks of COVID-19 and Dengue Fever.
I want to keep this message short because you know what is
coming next. I am asking you to help in as many of the following ways as
you can:
1.) Donate money to AHMEN online here (click the pencil to “add special
instructions to the seller” and type “Michael Franklin – Hurricane Relief” in
the box) or by sending a check.Make
your check out to AHMEN with "Michael Franklin – Hurricane Relief" on
the "for" line. Mail to 516 Ridgeview Dr. Jasper, AL 35504
If you donate, please email/call me to let me know how much
so I can be on the lookout. If everyone who saw this blog gave $50, we
could really address the truly urgent needs of the communities.
2.) Send a box of relief supplies! Check
the flyer for mailing information and packing lists! Pass this flyer out
at church, school, around town, and at Thanksgiving/Christmas. (Again
email/call me to let me know to expect your package.)
Please share this flyer!
3.) Come join the fun and help pack the container on
Dec 5 (an January date to be determined) at the AHMEN Container Loading.
3220 HWY 31 South, Building F, Decatur, AL 35603
4.) Start making preparations to return to Honduras with
the Río de Agua Viva team summer 2021.
I know our own communities are hurting. It is okay to
help them too, but consider the families in Honduras who had nothing when you
met them. They live only by faith now.
The situation in Honduras is
bad. It is bad in Nicaragua and Guatemala too, but as my Uncle Tom would
say "God sent me to Honduras." I need not remind you that the
families who have worked diligently over the years with AHMEN's Community
Empowerment Program "Agentes Comunitarios de Salud Integral" learned
much about clean water. In fact, they taught us that we can't talk about
clean water the same way they can. That is why Lane Franklin built an
ongoing relationship between AHMEN's Río de Agua Viva team and Agua con
Bendiciones (Water With Blessings). You see, instead of gringos like you and me trying to teach
a subject we have never experienced, Agua con Bendiciones empowers Honduran women
to teach about clean water based on their own personal experiences seeing what
consuming unpotable water does to a family, a community, to a country.
This relationship between the Río team and Agua con Bendiciones continues into
its seventh year and has resulted in an unexpected offspring.
No, Sister Larraine and I are
not having a baby! Lane and I aren't yet either. No, something even more miraculous happened. I met Luis
Beltrán a few years back during a meeting with the former leader of ACSI, Dr.
Byron Morales. Byron introduced Luis as "the future president of
Honduras." During that meeting Luis made his case for our expanding
ACSI into his home community of Arizona, outside Tela. He has continued
to make that case and proved his interest in working with AHMEN to these ends by
shadowing Agua con Bendiciones as a representative of Río de Agua Viva!
This devotion to and solidarity with his community did not go unnoticed.
In fact, it is being rewarded.
An anonymous benefactor has
donated the funds necessary for 500 Sawyer Water Filters to be distributed to Arizona if AHMEN can come up with the money to provide transportation, food,
and lodging for Agua con Bendiciones to come do a comprehensive clean water
training in there. Folks, all we have to do is raise $900, and 5,000+
individuals will enjoy the gift of clean water by Christmas.
Will you consider a donation
of any amount? Donate onlinehere atwww.honduranmissions.com/donate-1. Make sure to click on the pencil to
"add special instructions to the seller" to specify "Michael Franklin
- Clean Water" as the destination account for your donation. Send me an
email too so that I can verify that the money is on its way.
You can also donate by making
out your check to AHMEN with "Michael Franklin - Clean Water" on the "for" line. Mail to 516 Ridgeview Dr. Jasper, AL 35504. Also, let me know the check is in the mail so I can let our financial gurus know.
This is a one in a million shot for our newly-found friend
in Arizona. How awesome will it be to glorify
God by sharing the life-giving gift of clean water amidst a Dengue and COVID-19
outbreak in the aftermath of two major hurricanes?!
We are small without those we serve. We do little without your support. We are nothing without the Lord’s purpose,
but TOGETHER, we are the difference.
As promised, here are the numbers for the Garifuna communities past Limon. I call on each and every one of us to pray and donate what is possible. If you have clothes you can donate, we can get these on the fall container to Honduras. This needs to happen fast. The container will leave in just a few weeks. If you would rather donate to hurricane relief, click here and make sure to put community agent relief fund in the comment section. Make sure to send me a message too so I can be on the lookout for your donation. We are not in the clear yet. Another tropical depression is heading toward Honduras in the coming days.
Punta Piedra
Destroyed house 2
Cassava
cultivation 80 plots
Bananas
destroyed 10 plots
Cusuna
Destroyed
houses 7
Roofs
destroyed10
Totally
destroyed floors 20
Cassava
cultivation 120 plots
Banana crop
destroyed 20 plots
Ciriboya
Destroyed
houses 0
Destroyed
floors 5
Roofs destroyed
9
Cassava crop
destroyed 100 plots
Banana crop
destroyed 80 plots
Iriona Viejo
Destroyed
houses 0
Destroyed
floors 4
Roofs destroyed
2
Cassava crop
destroyed 50 apples
Banana crop
destroyed 10 apples
San José La
punta
Destroyed
houses 1
Roofs destroyed
2
Destroyed
floors 5
Corn crop
destroyed 1 plots
Yucca crop
destroyed 70 plots
Cultivation of
bananas 30 plots
Sangrelaya
Destroyed
houses. 2
Roofs destroyed
8
Cassava
cultivation 75 plots
Banana
cultivation 20 plots
Cocalito
Destroyed
houses 8
Roofs destroyed
20
Yucca crop
destroyed 120 plots
Banana farm
destroyed 80
There is an
urgent need for clothes for 300 families throughout the seven Garifuna
communities of Iriona.
Covid-19
Report
3 confirmed
deaths by Covid-19 in all of Iriona
Requested
Teaching Topics for 2021
1 = talk about
food security from as mission and culture of indigenous peoples
2 = protection
measure on risk and vulnerability in natural disasters
3 = human
relationship to the destruction of the environment
4 =
strengthening on the initiative of production and marketing of the product made
by the communities
5 = management
of the water and sanitation system for human consumption
6 =
comprehensive attention to the child's growth
7 = right of
indigenous peoples in Honduras
Let's do the right thing and stand beside our sisters and brothers in Honduras. Together, we are the difference!!
The extensive damage represents but one of the increasing effects of climate change. We of ASI strive to build educational relationships for long-term sustainable development. The pandemic, and now Etta, magnify the effects of poverty for many Honduran communities. Please hit me up here to join the conversation. The community agents are ready to plan projects now!
People living in the United States enjoy privilege few in the world know. Our neighbors openly defy mask orders and threaten to vote politicians out of office for simply taking the best advice of scientists into account. What do politicians do? They cower in fear and dissolve mask orders like sugar crystals in freshly brewed, still-warm sweet tea. What a bitter pill to swallow.
Meanwhile, 1,400 miles from Music City, the people of Honduras have a small reason to trust the government. The politicians there know that their underfunded healthcare infrastructure cannot withstand a mass Catracho contraction of COVID-19. The governments there are keeping orders in place keeping people home and masked when out of the house. While the pipes connected to the pueblo are not flowing with purified water, a significant contributor to public health disparities, Hondurans can rest assured that some degree of common sense rules the day.
I say a degree of common sense because Alberth Centeno, Milton Martínez, Suami Mejía, Gerardo Róchez, and Junior Mejía are still missing after being kidnapped by the police. Yet, the attack on Garifuna personhood is the long story in the history of Honduras in the 21st Century. I pray that I am put in a position to extend my privilege to the Garinagu so that Tocamachu is as important in the eyes of the Honduran people as Tegucigalpa, that Limon belongs on the national currency just as much as Chief Lempira, and that a statue of Dr. Alfonso Lacayo Sanchez becomes a chief landmark as much as any statue of Columbus in the country.
But again, these are the words of a privileged white man from the American South. The story of Garifuna justice deserves to be told by Garifuna men and women. Similarly, the story of the coronavirus in Honduras deserves to be told by everyday Hondurans.
Here are those words:
Vivimos dias dificil sin trabajo sin comida. Este pais es un Caos. Hay mucho Covid 19. No hay medicamentos. No hay tratamientos. Mucha gente mayor a muerto en Yorito. Los politicos y gobernates an robado todo el dinero asignado. Nosotros como ACSI no podemos actuar porque estamos todos en las mismas condiciones. Van a abrir el pais en el peor momento .
We live difficult days without work, without food. This country is in chaos. There is a lot of COVID-19, no medications, no treatments. Many older people have died in Yorito. The politicians have stolen all the money assigned to relief. We as ACSI cannot act because we are all in the same conditions. They will open the country at the worst moment.
-Fanny Aviles of ACSI Yorito
Hola, actualmente pues la mayoría esta luchando por sus clases en líneas ya que en el país no se ha normalizado las clases presenciales aún, luchando ya que se vive en comunidades rurales y hay poco acceso a Internet, computadoras y celulares. Lo más que hemos podido hacer es grabar Spot sobre la prevención del embarazo y unirnos algunas campañas. Ahora estamos trabajando con una de niñas y adolescentes para la prevención del embarazo precoz. En estos días estaremos repartiendo cincuente y cinco kits de higiene para niñas y adolescentes.
Hello, currently, most of them are fighting for their classes online since face-to-face classes have not yet been normalized in the country, fighting since they live in rural communities and there is little access to the Internet, computers, and cell phones. The most we have been able to do is record Spot on the prevention of pregnancy and join some campaigns. Now we are working with one for adolescent girls on the prevention of early pregnancy. We will be involved in distributing fifty-five hygiene kits for girls and adolescents.
-Eliany Barralaga Guardado of ACSI Jutiapa
When you read the words of our brothers and sisters in Honduras it can feel like our experience with the pandemic is similar. I implore you to understand, though, that our experiences are not the same. As we continue to shop freely in the grocery story full of food, families go hungry in Honduras without the ability to leave the house to shop. They lack work to buy the food they need, and the stores lack the supply routes that once kept shelves full of basic needs. The small reason to trust the government I spoke of above is minuscule indeed. If you would like to contribute to ACSI and their efforts to continue delivering life-saving education, and possibly relief supplies, to Honduran communities, please contact me here. One act of kindness goes a long way.
Jerry and his fellow community agents are meeting the needs of their community members during this global pandemic. Typically, the community agents submit a proposal for an educational workshop along with a budget. However, this summer was a bit different. Jerry said that the government would not allow them to get together because of coronavirus. Instead, he asked if he could use a relief supply distribution as an educational opportunity. While I am not a fan of handouts and missions focusing on pure relief, I see empowerment here.
Would you like to work with Jerry and the other Garifuna community members who share the value of community education with their neighbors? One easy way to do that is by donating to ASI. A more labor-intensive way to participate is by joining our volunteer teaching team to Honduras next June. Take advantage of a $100 discount by paying a $50 deposit today!
Economic inequality is a travesty. Not doing anything about it may be a sin. We live thousands of miles from Honduran communities who crave a leg up for their future generations. Yes, they can do anything they put their minds to accomplish. However, that is not why Jesus came down from heaven. The value of our togetherness should never be underestimated. Nothing can be accomplished by an individual as valuable as that achieved by a group. An individual can only do so much to whittle away at the status quo, but together we are the difference!
Did you ever wonder why myself and others in AHMEN went the direction of long-term community development over the relatively more immediately-rewarding medical relief and yearly water filter education? Not everyone in the organization understands or accepts the premise of our side of AHMEN operations. However, the message is relatively simple. It is about empowering local Hondurans to be the change they want to see in their own country. A linear plan of - A to B, B to C, C to D, and so on and so forth doesn't exactly work. Timelines and deadlines cannot be forced on local communities by foreign volunteers. We provide supplemental education so that local communities can develop their own benchmarks. We are involved in community development so that local Honduran leadership can envision a goal and engage with additional stakeholders about how to get there.
As a small pebble bouncing down a snowy slope can become an avalanche, so too can a conversation become lifesaving education. When ACSI-Jutiapa asked us for help in supporting a Covid-19 relief distribution in their neighborhoods as an educational activity, Greg Thompson and I supported the idea. We didn't support the idea solely to ensure families had access to food staples during a government lock down. We didn't support the idea solely to ensure ACSI-Jutiapa had an opportunity to do something when they could not hold educational seminars for the community. We supported this idea so that ACSI could practice addressing the needs of the community now so that they would be more prepared to do so on their own in the future. When AHMEN is dead and gone, ACSI will have had first-hand experience (a) identifying a problem (b) developing a plan and solution (c) seeking collaborators (d) executing the plan (e) providing evidence and accountability measures. We are not in the "hand out" business but the "hand-in-hand" business. To donate to AHMEN's Community Empowerment Program, click here! Make sure to specify your donation goes to ACSI!
To join our think tank or to visit ACSI when travel opens up again, contact me here! God has the power to end human suffering in the world for eternity with the blink of an eye, but instead asks us to be the hands and feet. Together, we are the difference.
I don’t have much of an audience.In ten years of writing about the amazing
work I have been lucky to be a part of in Honduras, I have gained a dozen or so
followers.Do these kind folks even take
the time to learn what their buddies are up to anymore?I get few shares, likes, and comments on
social media and never a comment on the actual blog.Is it the message or the medium?I’m not sure, but there is one thing for
certain.If you are reading, know that
the journey Christ has put me on is one of combating discrimination through
education.
I stand firmly against the structure under which we live
described by bell hooks so succinctly as “imperialist white supremacist capitalist
patriarchy.”I truly think I spend my
life fighting this framework of discrimination which seeks to promote profit
over people and planet.I understand the
neo-colonialist nature of international volunteerism and seek to deliberately
design our work in Honduras to minimize its effects.Jesus may tell you to promote justice in
other ways, but no definition of justice ensures war, racism, poverty, sexism,
and climate collapse.I threw that last
one in there.bell hooks doesn’t mention
the environment in the above quote; I just wanted to see if you were still
reading.
If My Southern Neighbors are Reading
Your celebration of a bastard state
which barely existed for four years must stop.It is pure treason and you know it.Worse, your low-key and obvious reverence for Dixie perpetuates the
abhorrently shady racism of U.S. history into our present.The flags and statues of the enemies who led
military charges against the United States (and modern day mascots depicting
them as safe for school) ruin my day every time I see them, and I sweat white
privilege like President Trump sweats McDonald’s “special sauce.”Get over yourself.I am a history teacher.Celebrate your heritage!Acknowledge that you have family who chose to
renounce their citizenship and become an enemy combatant of the United States.Sing them “Happy Birthday” each year.Just don’t pretend they weren’t wrapped up in
the worst form of racism….or that ignoring that part of your heritage
isn’t the seed ticks satiating Stone Mountain fever from sea to shining sea.You don’t just get to pretend that your
heritage stopped being racist after the passing of the 13th,
14th, and 15th Amendments and Civil Rights Acts.As long as you can breathe easily with a
single star or bar within a hundred feet of your house, our racist heritage lives into today.
I have been told by countless individuals who say they love
and respect our work in Honduras but think I should keep my politics
separate.The Dude has even abided by
this advice on as many occasions.There
have been times where I wrote out an aside meant for the bard to counter a
Facebook friend’s bigoted post.When I
typed out my last thought quoting Fannie Lou Hamer, I realized I was talking to
a past, current, or future supporter of health education in Honduras.I struggle with this one.I truly sit between angel and devil trying to
make the most ethical decision on behalf of the most people to benefit empowerment
education in the 2nd most-impoverished nation in the Western
Hemisphere.Let this blog serve notice
to me and the world around me.A threat
to justice in Honduras is a threat to justice in Haiti is a threat to justice
in Helsinki, is a threat to justice in Harlem, is a threat to justice in Hattiesburg.Censoring one’s stance on justice at home to
engage in physical activism abroad seems to define additional layers of
privilege.
To even have the gall to leave one’s own national borders
once to “help” less fortunate families abroad sets aside domestic issues in
order of importance.Everything must
be okay back home.To engage in this
type of behavior regularly is to mentally become a citizen of another country while
enjoying the privilege of safety and security back home in the U.S.This rear-view mirror reflects a reality
where the issues most-affecting family and neighbors back home take a backseat
to a “calling.”
For Those Reading Who Don't Understand White Privilege Abroad
I wrote my master’s thesis on how to bring in more
ecofeminist mindsets into Christian mission work, and the message about which I
wrote can be generalized to secular nonprofits.I wrote it because I grew up seeing the way
race, sex, religion, and the environment intersect in Honduras.I also wrote it because I believe in the
power of altruism to heal the wounds left open by imperialist capitalism.The multi-billion-dollar loans from the IMF
to industry and multi-million-dollar deals from the U.S. for security leave
little for sick and hungry families starving for an education and a step
up.I believe in the power of volunteers
and missionaries to do what governments and business will not.And if the non-profit world is going to be
the solution to global injustice, it must approach its role with an ecofeminist
mindset.For it is in the words of Karen
Warren:
Ecological feminists
(“ecofeminists”) claim that there are important connections between the
unjustified dominations of women, people of color, children, and the poor and
the unjustified domination of nature (Warren, 2000).
As the ultra-rich and powerful survive and thrive in this
dominion, they do so by denying personhood and self-determination to women,
people of color, children, and the poor while also passing the buck on climate
change.
This is not a plug for my cheap book but to stand up and
remind you that this missionary believes in the power of volunteerism to
provide a path to intersectionality.This teacher believes in pluralistic education and promotes its free and
unlimited access. A sociopolitical
economic system that etches the words of revolutionary democracy into stone but
refuses to read them can’t stand.This
leader urges you to get involved in the intersectional work to which you are
called.We all can’t be everywhere meeting
everyone’s needs all the time, but we can devote our lives to ending
discrimination in the spheres where we are most passionate.And in this way, we are united in solidarity
for peace and love.In this way, we can
live forever through Christ.
If you would like to join one of our annual Río
de Agua Viva teaching teams to Honduras in 2021, please do not hesitate to let
me know.We are an egalitarian mission
charged with supporting ACSI (Agentes Comunitarios de Salud Integral) in their ongoing commitment to education and sustainable health projects throughout
the most-overlooked areas of Honduras.One of our discussion groups next year will be on the topic of
privilege, and we need your help doing it well!Get started by contacting me here today
The sounds and stories we use to narrate the past form much
of our identity. Euphonious memories paint the pictures of my summer in
Honduras as a thirteen-year-old child in the late 90s.I met children who chanted my name, “Michael,
Michael!”I heard prayers in three
languages at once prior to shared clanks of cuchara to frijol.We woke up to the cock’s crow and went to bed
to the crashing of Caribbean waves.I
can still hear Pastor Carlos singing “How Great Thou Art” in Garifuna while
paddling the Limon.“Corina, Corina” played in the
foreground before laughter and singalongs.“I can’t explain what it is like.You just have to go.” was the way I responded to my parents.This was just days after the click of a
camera prefaced Uncle Tom standing a patient half my size next to me in the middle of clinic one day and saying “He and Michael are the same age.”The voice of my dear friend Gloria Lacayo
walking me through the identification of malaria under a microscope personalized the aeration of Off! canisters.
I have only ever skipped a year returning to Honduras once in the last twenty-three.I was writing a paper for grad school on “The Song of Hiawatha” when footage of the 2009 Coup crushed my dreams of a work trip to Copan and Utila. That missed year of travel did not hurt and possibly helped our leadership group process "serving from home." It was over that next year that we assessed
interest and strategized what would become AHMEN’s Community Empowerment
Program.The next several seasons
resulted in cheers of “Agentes Comunitarios de Salud Integral” graduating from
their 3-year trainings and applause to success stories of graduates' resulting achievements. Many bucket percussion sessions by the
Río
Plátano
and steel drum sunsets in Roatan later and the Río team was formed as as a yearly supplemental seminar series for 1-2 workshops sites. Out of the lion's den, our Honduran counterparts have arrived equipped to lead their own capacity trainings.
That is why it is with a sad heart and disappointed soul I
have to say that AHMEN’s Río de Agua Viva team is unable to return to Honduras this
year.We will postpone our travels until
further notice.The current world
climate has provided us multiple reasons to avoid our regularly scheduled community education team.However, within the last few week Honduras has not reopened its border from a May 15 decree. Morally, though, we
cannot risk traveling with Covid-19 to small
towns across the North Coast where the virus might not ever reach without the
arrival of Western missionaries. History
looks unkindly on that American tale, Feivel.
No, we write a new saga!All of you, God.We precisely set up ACSI to serve as an end
to the white savior complex, and we are seeing it thread the needle like Odysseus
right now!
Jerry Castillo’s group of ACSI have completed a distribution
of essential goods to the neediest homes in and around Punta Piedra, Cusuna,
Iriona, Ciriboya, and Sangrelaya.The
coolest part isn’t that this happened in response to the food supply chain
screeching to a halt from stay-at-home orders but that ACSI-Cusuna decided it
was their responsibility to do it. Based upon the fact that they could not
conduct a previously-scheduled training on community savings and loan due to
social distance recommendations, Jerry and the gang proposed using this relief
effort as a community project.
Currently we are awaiting ACSI-Jutiapa’s final planning for
a similar effort by the Youth Network.Greg Thompson
has done an excellent job taking over the responsibility of leading this portion of the Río team. The Youth Network advocates
for clean planet and clean communities on a whole. Last month, though, they approached this relief effort as a mentorship for their younger members. A distribution of food bags will take place
later this week!
ACSI-Yorito would like your help in proceeding to the next
level in sustainable clean water technology on a community-wide scale.They seek training from a medium-sized non-profit
specializing in scaling up what the group has already accomplished in terms of
cisterns and home-based bio-sand filtration.
I can’t wait to read reports from our leaders in these
locations and see what the agents in Raistá propose.They are still grieving from losing three
community members in a recent fire at the mayor’s house.Pastor Wilinton continues to smile the value
of health education to whomever will listen.Stay tuned for more updates!
We will not be returning to Honduras until we can do so
ethically.In the meantime, we will
continue to support those Catrachos and Catrachas on the ground fighting for
basic rights to clean water, enough to eat, healthcare, education, and a home
in which to prosper.How can you
help? To truly make use of our lost
travel time, we could really use your help in the following areas:
·Community Development Intern
oCommunication liaison, documentarian, web
presence development, discounted travel
·Río de Agua Viva team leader to Yorito
oBegin working with ACSI to bring dynamic sustainable economic development workshops, medical brigades, and
long-term planning volunteers
·ACSI-Yorito planning committee
oMaintain relationships with Yorito central
committee to ensure ongoing planning and project development
·ACSI-Roatan planning committee
oWork with Roatan Río team leader to plan an
educational needs assessment for a 3-year workshop training in Roatan
·Traveling team members for all teams
oThe only requirements are to be open-minded and
as prepared as possible. Topics include environmental awareness, health
education, appropriate technology, community organizing, and more!
·ACSI chief of fundraising
oWe are seeking an individual who would like to
donate several hours per month to help conceive and carry out various
fundraising strategies to multiply our efforts to provide both vital
capacity-building for Honduran leaders and scholarships for deserving volunteer team
members.
What can you do to help some kick ass community leaders build a healthier
and more just Honduras?
I cannot even believe it has been almost eight months since I returned from one of the most exciting, and extended, journeys of my life. Reflecting back, it could not have come at a more perfect time. The plan was to deliberately expand AHMEN's Río de Agua Viva team to cover the four locations of AHMEN's Community Empowerment Program. I was trying to spread the team too thinly the past few years by stopping at each location. We were only able to hit two out of three locations very well. However, adding a third meant that one area was neglected. We don't want to be in the habit of superficial coverage. We want to fully immerse ourselves and the community agents into the subjects they request we teach. As a result, three years ago I began courting leadership to bring an AHMEN team to each of the four workshop areas. This has happened 75% of the way.
Greg Thompson is now leading the team in the Jutiapa/Corozal area. This year I am leading a team to work in Cusuna. Ken Hanson is leading the charge to return to basics with just water education in La Moskitia. At the time, CD & Linda Tripp were leading a team to Yorito. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case. We still need a team to work in Yorito this year and into the future! Let me say it again for those of you in the back....It is of utmost importance that AHMEN return to Yorito in 2020! Stepping away from a project you created and turning over the keys to the ranch to someone else is not an easy task. I have been trying to step away and turn over sites for the Río team since 2017 in an effort to expand AHMEN’s educational capacity. Nonetheless, even though I gave new leadership the keys, I still held my hand over theirs each time they needed to unlock the gate. Not in 2019! NO SIR! I met Greg Thompson in Honduras and helped him get organized for the week in Jutiapa/Corozal, but then I left with Ken Hanson to go to Raistá (La Moskitia). Once in Raistá, I helped Ken Hanson set up his team and then left for him to finish the job. Check out the videos below. It doesn't look like they missed me much!
Ken Hanson is leading a water team to La Moskitia this April, but we do need a team leader to return to Raistá to teach other educational topics. There is still time to plan a team, and I can walk you through everything you need to prepare. Also, in case you haven't heard, there are 50 community agents in Yorito who would like to continue learning and developing educational projects of their own. However, they need your support! How can you help? If you would like to make a donation to AHMEN's Community Empowerment Program, lead or join a team to go work with one of the four workshop areas, all you have to do to get started is CONTACT ME. In 2020 my Río team heads to Cusuna and Roatan to deliver lessons in addiction management, environmental awareness, and lifeguarding/water safety. I will also train each of our members to become team leaders. Join us, and lead your own teaching team next year! Together, we are the difference.
